


Foot In The Grave, Foot On The Pedal

by Wickedtruth



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Case Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Serial Killers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-01
Updated: 2011-05-01
Packaged: 2017-10-18 20:48:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/193142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wickedtruth/pseuds/Wickedtruth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A serial killer arrives in Hawaii, leaving a trail of bodies and stirring up some old ghosts.  Is it just coincidence that the killer has chosen the islands to resurrect his bloody career, or is he hunting someone in particular?  When one of the team is taken, the case becomes a race to find them before the killer can claim another victim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Foot In The Grave, Foot On The Pedal

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the DW H5-0 BigBang challenge, but as that appears to have faded away, I'm posting this now, because having it sitting on my computer is making me twitchy.
> 
> Very small spoilers for 1x08 Mana'o and 1x09 Po'ipu.
> 
> Betas: [Silverraven](http://archiveofourown.org/users/silverraven/pseuds/silverraven) and [Splendidsilence](http://archiveofourown.org/users/splendidsilence/pseuds/splendidsilence).

Danny's already at the morgue when Steve pulls up. His partner is tie-less and has his shirt sleeves rolled up past his elbows. He's leaning against his car, legs crossed at the ankles and arms folded across his chest. The late evening sun highlights the blond hairs that cover his forearms and the gentle breeze has messed up his hair a little.

When Steve climbs out of his truck, Danny stands up, arms dropping. Steve catches himself watching the movement of muscle under sun-warmed cotton and allows himself only a brief glance before he looks away.

They fall in step as they enter the building; Steve shortening his stride by half a step and Danny walking just a little quicker than he does with anyone else. Their arms bump as they walk, easy and comfortable in a way that Steve would never have expected, given the start to their partnership. He still doesn't quite know how to categorise what they have, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't appreciate it.

"You know, getting called to the morgue on a Sunday evening is never a good thing. It always tends to screw up the whole rest of the week." Danny says casually, as if this is a regular occurrence and Steve wonders sometimes whether these apparently throwaway comments that Danny sometimes makes are just Danny running his mouth as usual, or whether he's talking from personal experience. But Danny, for all that he's happy to tell people how many murder cases he's worked dressed in a shirt and tie, can be surprisingly tight lipped about the details of some of those cases.

Steve doesn't get a chance to comment though, because Danny's already pushing the door to the morgue open and greeting Max.

"Hey Max. What you got that's so important the Governor felt the need to call tall, dark and dangerous here on a Sunday evening, thus necessitating him calling me?" Danny jerks his thumb at Steve, almost hitting him in the chest, and Steve has to resist the urge to slap it away.

"A serial killer appears to be at work, here on the island."

"Another one? What is this, vacation central for murderers and psychos?" Danny asks, hands spread wide in semi-serious indignation, and as disturbing as the subject is, Steve still has to stifle a grin.

"OK, how many victims are we looking at?" He asks, ignoring the frown that Danny throws his way.

"On the island? One, so far."

"So, how do you come to the conclusion that we've got a serial killer and why this couldn't wait until tomorrow morning." Danny looks at Steve, but he doesn't know what's going on either, so he just shrugs at Danny.

"There haven't been any other murders that fit this pattern on any of the islands, but the signature is an exact match for a series of murders that occurred on the mainland about five years ago."

"How many victims were there?" Danny asks, all the earlier joking forgotten.

"Thirty six were recorded, in the space of approximately six months."

"Jesus, that's what, one a week?" Steve looks at Danny, who looks tense, too tense even for this kind of news. He wonders if Danny's having problems with Rachel and her new husband again. He makes a mental note to ask about it later.

"Every five days," Danny says, quietly.

"Yes, exactly." Max is looking at Danny now too. Danny nods, but he's frowning and he's gone from tense to p ractically vibrating with unease.

"What's the victim profile and the killer's MO?" Danny sounds like he really doesn't want to know, but he's going to ask anyway, because that's his job.

"Our case follows the typical victim profile and modus operandi for the killer on the mainland. The victim was a caucasian male, mid-thirties. blond haired, blue eyed. He was found in his apartment, sitting in a chair. There were ligature marks around both wrists, indicating that he was restrained, probably tied to the arms of the chair. There are cuts to the wrists and the died due to massive blood loss." Max pulls back the sheet covering the body and lifts one of the corpse's arms, twisting it so that Steve can see the rope marks and a cut that runs lengthwise for half an inch or so down the pale forearm. The edges of the wound gape obscenely open, and Steve suppresses a shiver of distaste. He glances at Danny and his concern grows, because as squeamish as Danny can be, he always pays attention to information like this and right now, he's looking at his shoes, arms crossed so tightly across his chest that Steve's sure he's going to get cramp.

"Examination of the scene has shown that the blood was disposed of down in the kitchen. The the killer cut a hole in the victim's chest after death, clean through the skin, muscle and ribs, before removing the heart. The heart hasn't been found and we believe that the killer took it with him. However, he left something in its place." Max reaches out to pull back the sheet, but Danny's hand shots out and grabs Max's wrist. Max jumps. Steve doesn't but it's close.

"A white rose," Danny says, voice low and rough. He lets go of Max's wrist suddenly, as if he's surprised to find that he's still holding it.

"Oh. Yes. How did you know that?" Max asks, looking at Danny as if he's suddenly become as interesting as the bodies on his autopsy tables. Danny's already walking away though, slamming through the morgue doors hard enough that they bounce off the walls.

"Can you e-mail me the full report?" Steve asks, moving towards the door, needing to catch up with his partner and find out what the hell is going on.

"I've only completed a preliminary examination, but I'll send you what I've got and you can have the full report once I've had time to do the autopsy," Max says and Steve barely takes the time to nod his thanks before he's hurrying down the corridor after his partner. He's concerned about a killer on his island, but right now, his main worry is catching Danny.

It's getting dark outside and he has to give his eyes a few seconds to adjust when he leaves the brightly lit morgue. He spots Danny easily enough though. He's by his car, hands braced in the hood, head hanging between his shoulders.

The sense of relief he feels at seeing Danny is ridiculous, but that doesn't stop him feeling it all the same.

"Hey, you OK?" He asks, stopping within arms length of his partner. He isn't sure whether he should reach out and offer support with a touch or not.

"Fuck," Danny says, clearly, precisely and with more venom that Steve's heard from him before.

"Danny? What's going on? You know something about this case?"

Danny makes a fist with one hand and knocks it against the hood of the car, as if he'd really like to punch something, but is trying to resist the urge.

"Yeah."

"Come on, you're starting to scare me here, man. Tell me what's going on." Steve takes a step closer and put s his hand on Danny's arm. The muscles under his touch are rock hard, tense and unyielding.

Danny straightens up, but he doesn't dislodge Steve's hand, "Look, if I gotta deal with this shit again, fine, but I don't want to have to explain this twice, so lets save it for HQ. Then I can relive the whole thing in glorious technicolour for everyone at the same time."

Steve isn't sure what Danny's talking about, but his partner is so visibly stressed that he stuffs all the questions away and nods. He squeezes Danny's arm, just once, then lets go.

"OK. Max is going to e-mail me the full autopsy and forensic report. I'll call Chin and Kono and have them meet us at HQ."

"Right." Danny heads for the drivers seat. Steve is tempted to suggest that they go in his truck, but he thinks maybe Danny needs some time right now, so even though he feels odd watching Danny get in the car without him, he doesn't say a word. Danny backs out of the parking space and pulls away while Steve's getting in his truck and calling the others. He gives them a brief run down and then takes a few seconds extra to let them know, as subtly as he can, that this case seems to have hit a nerve with Danny and that they might need to tread a little carefully.

He drives to HQ, trying to reign in his impulse to press a little harder on the gas pedal than he should, just to get to his partner a little quicker. Danny's an adult and an experienced detective; he doesn't need Steve fussing over him like an overprotective mother hen, but Steve can't help the way he feels and he can't stop wanting to find a way to ease whatever burden Danny's carrying because of this case.

Steve gets to HQ and pulls in next to Danny's car. The sense of relief at seeing the Camaro in it's usual spot is completely ridiculous and unnecessary, but it's real and strong, nonetheless.

When he walks into HQ, he can see Danny's in his office and he hesitates, uncertain whether to go in and talk to Danny or leave him be. Steve's never been this unsure around his partner, not even in the first few days when he was pretty sure that Danny genuinely did hate him. Their relationship has been occasionally volatile, but for all that, it's still been one of the easiest friendships that he's had. Danny doesn't hide anything, doesn't hedge around subjects, doesn't take any bullshit. Steve never has to worry about watching his back, because he can trust Danny to watch it for him. Somehow, he's earned Danny's undivided and unfaltering loyalty and his trust. He's been invited into Danny's life and has found himself on the scarily small list of people that Danny would take a bullet for. Fair's fair, because he'd take a bullet for Danny without a second thought.

In the end, he leaves Danny be and goes to the main area. Chin and Kono are already there, working on pulling up the report that Max has sent over, together with police reports and victim information that he guesses have come from the mainland cases.

Chin puts up some crime scene photos. Steve's seen plenty of sickening things in his time, but there's something grotesque about the way the bodies were left. Every victim is posed in some mundane way; sitting on the couch in front of the TV, at the kitchen table, in bed, sitting behind their office desk. In every case, the corpse's skin is grey and slack; sagging chins and heavy jowls drooping lifelessly. The contrast between the pallor of the flesh and the dark pink hole in each and every chest, with the white rose tucked inside is striking. In most cases the victim's eyes are open and the cold, blank stares are unnerving.

Danny appears beside Steve. Danny takes a look at the screen, then scrubs a hand over his face and looks away.

"What have you found?" Steve asks Chin, watching Danny out of the corner of his eye.

"Our victim's name is Dave Beckford. Dead approximately three days. The details definitely match the details in the case files that I pulled from task force that was set up to investigate the original series of murders. Everything in the files confirms what Max told you. Five years ago, thirty six men were murdered and the killer was never caught. All the killings took place in New Jersey" Chin says, looking at Danny. Danny doesn't meet Chin's eyes and the hair on the back of Steve's neck stands on end.

Chin stares at Danny for a few seconds longer, then his fingers move and the information on main screen changes to a list of the victims, together with little thumbnail pictures. Steve feels just a little bit sick when he realises that all of the victims remind him, at least in overall looks, of Danny.

"Any eye witnesses?" He asks, trying to push the thought away.

"Two. One was a neighbour who alerted the police to what she thought was a burglary. The attending officers found the body of the last known victim, still warm. The witness was able to provide a vague description," Kono replies. She looks at Danny, clearly concerned about something and Steve wonders what he's missing.

"And the other?" He asks.

"Me," Danny says. He's standing a step or two further away from the table, from Steve, than he normally would, and he's got his arms crossed again. His posture is tense and defensive.

The last time Danny was this uptight was when they were investigating Meka's murder. But then he channelled all that stress into anger and energy, this time he seems to be shutting down, shutting them out and Steve feels far more betrayal that he expected. He knows that Danny didn't want to come here, that he's felt out of place for most of the time he's been on the island, but he really thought that his partner had come to understand that as far as the team were concerned, he was family now. Steve doesn't like the idea that Danny might not feel as at home here as Steve has thought.

"What happened brah?" Chin's voice is soft, careful, as if he's talking to a skittish witness and although Danny doesn't bristle at it, Steve does, though he has absolutely no good reason to. Chin gives him a considering look, but doesn't say anything.

"I'd been working the case since the first body turned up. We ran down every single lead, no matter how unlikely. Interviewed anyone who might have seen anything at all. Interviewed them again. Went door to door for every new murder and we didn't get a single thing.

"There were nothing that tied all of the victims together, beyond their physical similarities. Some were straight, some gay. Investment bankers, high rolling professional gamblers and high school dropouts. They didn't go to the same schools, or the same bars or restaurants. They didn't share friends, or kinks or gyms."

"There must have been some kind of link," Kono says, concern shifting to confusion.

"We never found it. As far as we could tell, this guy could just have picked his victims walking down the streets and followed them. Even where they died varied; at home, in a hotel, their office. One was even found sitting on a park bench." Danny points towards one of the pictures on the screen, then tilts his hand in the first familiar gesture that Steve's seen him make since they left the morgue.

Chin enlarges the picture of a man, sitting on a bench, in the pouring rain. Like the other victims, there's a neat hole in his chest and the heart has been replaced with a white rose. For all the death and violence that Steve's seen in his time in the Navy, and since forming Five-0, there's still something chilling about that macabre vision in such a mundane setting. He wonders if the color of the rose has any significance and he makes a mental note to check it out later.

Danny doesn't look at the screen, and Steve gets the impression that it's not because he's uncomfortable with it, but because he's seen it so often that he doesn't need to.

"This guy drove us all a little nuts, you know? We brought in profilers, psychologists, you name it. They couldn't give us anything that we couldn't figure out for ourselves. We knew the typical serial killer profile, but that only helps if you've got suspects. We had nothing." Danny crosses his arms again. "We had no leads, no idea of where he'd strike next. Half the city was too scared to leave their houses. I think city wide sales of brown hair dye went through the roof." Steve can see that he's trying for levity, trying to find the humour in the situation, like he normally would, but it's falling flat. "The task force was routinely pulling fourteen or sixteen hour days." He looks at Chin, "You know how it gets, a case like that. You eat, sleep and breath it." Chin nods and Steve doesn't have to imagine the toll that kind of sustained pressure takes.

"Then, out of the blue, we finally got a break, only we didn't know it at first. PD got a 911 call, reporting a possible burglary in progress and they sent a unit to check it out. They had to break into the property and found the last victim, sitting at his kitchen table, still warm. The perp had fled already, but he couldn't have been gone long, so we flooded the area with beat cops and detectives and pretty much closed off a whole district for several hours."

It's really strange, listening to Danny talk, without seeing his hands in motion, without the gestures and the way he sometimes tilts his head, or half shrugs his shoulders. It's like watching a different person and Steve finds himself wanting to reach out and touch Danny, just to convince himself that the subdued man in front of him really is his partner.

Danny shifts his weight and takes a deep breath. Steve gets the impression that he's steeling himself to tell this next part, and he looks at Chin and Kono to see if they sense it too. They're both focussed on Danny and they both look concerned. Whatever they hell they found in the files before he and Danny got there has them worried about something.

"We went door to door, searched every shed, every empty house, every abandoned building. We stopped every car in a ten bock radius of the crime scene, looked in every bush. Turns out he'd been using an empty warehouse about five blocks from the scene as a den; someplace to stash his gear and plan the murders. I must have walked past that building a few hundred times during those six months. Me and my partner went in to check the place out; it was a warren of corridors and rooms, spread over 3 floors. We didn't think we'd find anything here, so we split up, trying to cover the ground more quickly. I didn't know it until later, but the perp got the drop on Mitch, took him by surprise and cut his throat before he had chance to even get a shot off."

"Not your fault," Chin says.

"Don't. I don't need to be coddled," Danny replies, snappy in way that he never is with the team. Other people, Rachel most notably, but never the people in this room.

Chin holds a hand up in apology and Danny's shoulders slump. "Sorry. I didn't mean that."

"It's OK, man, I understand."

Danny scrubs a hand over his face and he's looking tired. Steve would really like to be able to tell him to take a break, but he's pretty sure that Danny won't take it. And if whatever happened is as bad as Steve's starting to fear, then he can't blame him. He knows that he'd want to get the telling over with as well.

"I didn't know Mitch was down, so I kept on searching. When I finished my floor and I couldn't raise him on the radio, I started to get worried, so I went looking for him, instead of getting the hell out of there and waiting for backup." He doesn't look at Steve, but Steve feels the words like a slap to the head anyway. "Found his body at the bottom of one of the stairwells. He'd bled out and I knew there wasn't anything I could do for him. Been partners for five years. I knew his wife and kids as well as I knew my own." Danny's voice cracks a little, but he takes a slow breath and carries on.

"I decided that staying was stupid, so I was trying to find my way back out when this guy popped up from fucking nowhere and whacked me with a tire iron or something. Next thing I know, I'm tied to a chair and he's right there, in front of me. That whole room was like a shrine to all the people he'd killed. There must have been hundreds of pictures of his victims, alive and dead, all over the walls of that room. He even had an altar, covered with stuff he'd taken; jewellery, clothes, God knows what." Danny shivers, just the smallest ripple of movement through his body, but it makes Steve want to reach out and touch Danny now, makes him want to reach out in to the past and spare Danny this.

"Danny, you don't need to..." Steve starts to say, wanting to try give Danny an out, save him from having to describe the whole thing.

"Yes I do." Danny looks at him then, and he's hating having to tell them this, but he's going to see it through, clearly wants them to hear it from him rather than read it in a file, so Steve just nods and tells himself that if this guy is on his island, Steve's going to find him and if he has his way, there won't be a trial.

Danny looks away again, as if he can't look at any of them while he's saying this. "So, he was waving this knife, or scalpel round and talking about why he's doing this and how he'd be famous and that he's smarter than the police." Danny's breathing speeds up a little, and his arms are wrapped around his chest, like he's hugging himself. "He had this bowl. Shiny, silver bowl and he grabbed my hand and just flicked his wrist, just made this little movement. The blade was so sharp I didn't even know that he'd opened a vein at first, until I realised that I could hear my blood dripping into the bowl."

Steve's chest is so tight that he's surprised he can still breathe. Kono looks horrified and faintly sick. Chin looks calm until Steve sees the way his hands are balled into fists by his side. It doesn't matter that Danny's survived, all that matters is that he was hurt by this man and that it's left a permanent mark on him that goes deeper than any physical wound.

"I was pretty sure that was it, that I was gonna end up victim thirty seven when the cavalry finally arrived. I don't remember too much after that, lost a lot of blood, apparently. Woke up in the hospital, several hours later. Lucky for me that this guy likes to take his time and torment his victims before he kills them."

"What happened to the bastard, the perp?" Kono asks and she sounds as ready to forget due process where this guy is concerned as Steve is and he has never loved his team more than he does right then.

"Obviously, he got away. As far as I know, despatch got concerned when we didn't check in and sent a uniform unit to the place to check it out. They blundered in, the guy probably heard them and ran. The uniforms were more concerned about trying to stop me bleeding out than going after him, for which I am eternally grateful, I might add." The last part is so typically Danny, but so lacking in his usual cocky manner that it makes something in Steve ache. "Unfortunately, the description I could give them didn't bring up any new leads. The murders stopped and the case just went stone cold."

"Jesus, Danny." No wonder his partner had been so shocked when this reared up out of the past in the morgue. Steve can imagine all too well the fear Danny must have felt at being a helpless victim of this murderer, let alone the pain of losing his partner and the guy getting away.

"Yeah."

The room falls silent. None of them seem to know quite what to say.

"Maybe we should take a break?" Kono says, finally.

"No. We need to find this guy. If he follows the same pattern, we've only got a few days before he kills again. I'm not sitting back and watching him rack up the body count like last time," Danny says, something of his usual self bleeding through.

"OK," Steve says, "So this guy's a serial killer, right? Where has he been for the last five years?"

"Yeah, killers like this don't just stop, at least not willingly," Chin replies, already leaning forward and bringing up the police database. He types quickly, then braces his hand against the table while he waits for the results to come back.

Steve glances at Danny. He's worrying his thumbnail, but he seems a little less tense than before. Earlier Steve hated the idea that this killer's ideal type appears to look just like Danny, but now he can't help but be a little grateful, because otherwise, Danny would probably have ended up with his throat cut as well. Even so, the idea that the sick fuck was going to do to Danny what he'd done to all the other victims makes Steve almost shake with anger.

"There haven't been any murders over the last five years, either on the mainland or here on the islands, that match this guy's MO." Chin looks up from the computer table, clearly a little frustrated.

"So, maybe he's been in jail?" Kono suggests.

Chin looks at Steve and Danny and shrugs. "Probably, but trying to find him is going to be a mammoth task, cuz. All we have to go on is a description. We'd have to pull records for everyone sentenced at around the time that the killer got away, then released in, say, the last six months. And we can't assume that he was arrested or incarcerated in New Jersey. He might well have fled the state."

Kono groans, "Really?"

"It's the only possible lead that we've got. According to Max's report, he came up completely empty on any physical evidence that could help, so we're going to have to try this the old fashioned way," Chin tells her.

"Great," Danny says, sounding exhausted, but determined. "The description and sketch are in the file. Everyone grab a state and prepare to spend a very long night. I'll take Massachusetts." He turns to Steve and points at him, "And you, you're springing for pizza and ice cream." He walks towards his office. "And no damned fruit on the pizza this time."

Steve doesn't bother to hide his grin, then turns and catches the look on Chin and Kono's faces. "What?"

"Are you sure that Danny should be working this case?" Kono asks.

"You think you can persuade him to go home and let us handle this, be my guest," Steve says. Truth is, he'd love to do just that, but he knows Danny isn't going to agree, no matter what Steve or anyone else says and short of actually ordering him, Steve won't sway him. He's not above trying to throw his rank around when it suits him, but that tactic has never worked with his partner, who has always been supremely unimpressed by Steve's supposed seniority. Steve also understands that Danny _needs_ to work this case, even if he probably doesn't want to.

Kono looks at Chin, as if she expects him to back her up, but he just shakes his head. He doesn't look too happy about it, but he clearly understands the same way that Steve does that this is something that they can't fight Danny over.

"OK, I'll take Delaware then." She turns and heads for her office.

"I've got Florida," Chin says and walks away.

Steve heads for his own office and the excitement of Texas , but at the last minute, he changes his mind and heads for Danny's. He leans against the door frame and watches his partner for a few seconds.

"You better be here to tell me that the pizza is on the way," Danny says without looking away from his screen.

"Are you sure you should be here?" It's not quite the subtle suggestion that Steve was intending, but he's speaking before he can think it through.

Danny turns and looks at him as if he's stupid. "I cannot sit at home and wait to read about the next body that turns up, knowing that I could be here, helping to find this guy."

"I know this is personal..." Steve starts.

"Yes, this is personal. This guy tried to kill me. He did kill my partner. He killed thirty six other people. If you were in my shoes, would you be able to take yourself off the case?"

Steve thinks about losing Danny like Danny lost his partner and is blindsided by a horribly vivid image of the stain on the floor of his house, only this time, it's Danny lying in a ever widening pool of his own blood, eyes wide and sightless. He has to fight hard not to shiver. He guesses he wasn't that successful when Danny's eyes narrow. Even shaken and shocked, he's still a damned good detective and he's been able to read Steve better than most people from the very start.

"No. No, I couldn't. But I had to ask."

"Yeah, I get it," Danny says. He sounds tired, but determined.

Steve turns to leave, but then remembers his earlier thought about the significance of the white roses. He turns back, "Did you ever find any significance to him using white roses?" he asks.

Danny leans back in his chair and pinches the bridge of his noes for a few seconds before he answers, "Apparently, white roses are supposed to signify purity, innocence, silence, secrecy and are supposed to tell whoever receives them that the giver is worthy." Danny ticks off the list on his fingers.

"That's... creepy," Steve says.

"Yeah, tell me about it. However, what they mean to the killer, I have no idea. If we catch him,"

"When, when we catch him," Steve interrupts.

"Fine, _when_ , I'll be sure and ask him, OK?"

"You do that. I'm gonna go get that pizza ordered," Steve says.

Danny turns back to his computer and nods.

"I meant it about the ice cream. And don't get that frozen yoghurt crap, either."

Steve just snorts and pushes himself upright. He's a couple of steps away when Danny's voice makes him pause, "Hey, Steve. Thanks."

The sincerity in Danny's voice at times like this always catches him by surprise. He doesn't turn around but just says "We're here to help, you know that."

"Yeah, I do. Now go order my pizza, bitch."

Steve grins and goes to do as he's told.

Several hours later, the four of them are sitting in the main area. There are pizza boxes on the floor, Steve's fridge is now empty of beer, Chin looks as though he's fallen asleep with his eyes open and Kono has gone to wake herself up with cold water.

Danny's got his feet up on the table, and has a laptop balanced precariously on his thighs. His hair is messed up from where he's been running his hands through it. Steve's own laptop is sitting on the table, but he's been reading the same line for the last ten minutes at least.

They've gone through the prison records of practically every state and each and every time they've found someone who went down about the right time and who in any way matches the sketch of the killer that Danny provided to the original investigation, they've been pulling the pictures up on the screens. Every time, Danny's held his breath and then, when it turns out not to be the guy, the breath and tension empties out of him in a long rush.

Steve finally gets to the last of his share of the records and doesn't find their guy. He looks for the next state, only to find that they've gone through them all, apart from the two that Danny and Chin are still wading through.

"I'm done. You want me to take some of yours?" He asks Danny.

"Nah, I've just finished too." Danny closes the laptop and slides it onto the table before he lifts his feet up and off and stands. He takes a few steps, then leans on the back of his chair and Steve winces at the crack as Danny rolls his neck. He notices, but refuses to dwell on the way Danny's shi rt untucks a little from his pants, revealing a hint of lightly tanned skin just above his hip.

"I've got one final possible suspect," Chin says suddenly.

"Hey buddy, I thought you passed out an hour ago," Danny says.

"Nah brah, just conserving my energy."

Danny smiles, but there's a tightness around his eyes that isn't just tiredness.

"Put it up," Steve says.

Chin flicks his wrist and Steve, who's watching Danny instead of the screen, knows immediately that it's the guy by the way Danny goes absolutely still and his knuckles go pale and bloodless where he's gripping the back of the chair. Danny's tension is catching, because out of the corner of his eye, Steve sees Chin sit up straighter, eyes flicking between the picture on screen and Danny.

"This the guy?" Steve asks, because even though it's obvious, they need to know for sure.

Danny takes a breath before he looks away from the picture, down to his own hands. He lets go of the chair and flexes his hands with a slow deliberation. "Yeah, that's him."

"Josh Grady. Served four and a half years for running fake credit cards in Ohio. Released from Denmar Correctional in Pochahontas County six months ago. Looks like he dropped off the radar almost immediately. Current location listed as unknown."

"Yeah, well, not any more. Check out the hotels, see if he's registered anywhere." Steve tells Chin.

"He won't be under his own name. By now he's probably got a wallet full of fake cards. And if he's staying somewhere, it'll probably be at the lower end of the market. Check the motels and by the hour places too," Danny says.

Chin nods, "I can check most of the big hotels from here, but we're going to have to visit the cheap ones in person."

"Get HPD to lend us some manpower. If this guy sticks to his pattern, we've only got a couple of days at most before he takes another victim," Steve says.

Danny opens his mouth, no doubt to make some comment on Steve finally wanting to get back up for them, when Kono returns, holding a box in one hand and tray of coffee from the coffee shop down the block.

"Hey guys. I had to get out of here for a while, so I thought I'd pick us up some coffee." She juggles the box and the tray for a second, before Steve takes the box from her and puts it on the table next to his laptop.

She hands out the coffee and walks up to the screen. "Is that the guy?" She looks back at Danny.

"Yeah," Steve says, sipping the coffee. It's probably a mistake to drink at this time of night, but it's not like any of them are going to be going home just yet, not until they've found out everything there is to know about Josh Grady.

Steve doesn't like the idea of this man on the islands. Not just because he's a serial killer and if the past is anything to go by, he's going to be a danger until they can catch him, but because Steve just doesn't like the thought of him anywhere near Danny. He's aware that's a completely irrational thought. He reminds himself again that Danny is a very capable cop and can take care of himself. And as much as he'd prefer that Danny didn't have to deal with this psycho again, at least this time he'll have a whole team to watch his back.

"What's in the box?" Danny asks, resting his hip on the table and holding on to his coffee cup like he'll kill anyone who tries to take it away from him.

"Oh. No idea, it's for you. It was dropped off at the front desk and they asked me to bring it up," Kono replies.

Danny stands and holds his cup out towards Steve. Steve takes it, wondering when he got to be so well trained. Danny pulls the box closer. Steve watches him read the label and then pick the box up, as if testing the weight, before he sets it down again and pulls out a small Swiss army style knife that Steve didn't know he carried. He wonders if that's where this fascination with his partner has come from. Danny should be easy to predict, and sometimes he is. It's just that there are other times, when he does something totally unexpected, that catch Steve by surprise. Steve knows himself well enough, whatever Danny may say, to understand that he can be easily bored and that he needs things, and people, that challenge him and hold his interest, and Danny has done both from the day they met. He stares as Danny slits the tape keeping the box closed with quick and efficient motions, before folding the knife up and tucking it back into his pocket.

Steve takes another mouthful of his coffee, making a mental note to do something nice for Kono soon as a thank you. Chin and Kono are currently on the other side of the table, both of them working to pull up as much information as they can about Josh Grady. He's incredibly proud of his people, of how well they all work and how in tune they are. He thought he'd struggle to find the same sense of team as a civilian that he'd found in the Navy. What he's ended up with is actually closer to family, or at least, what he thinks family must be like.

He turns his attention back to Danny in time to see him pull a couple of handfuls of crumpled up newspaper out of the box, drop them on the table and then tip the box towards him. Steve's just to ask what Danny's got when Danny takes a sudden half step back and sucks in a breath like he's been sucker punched.

"What is it?" He asks his partner, a sense of forboding settling over him. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Kono and Chin look up, but he's more concerned about Danny. When Danny doesn't answer he sets the coffee cups on the table and leans in to look in the box.

"Fuck." He has to force himself not to take a step back. Inside the box, nestled in tissue paper and white petals is what he's pretty sure is a human heart.

"Boss?" Kono asks.

"Get Max and the forensic team up here. And find out how this package got here."

Chin moves around the table while Kono makes the calls. He looks at Steve and Danny and then looks into the box. He swears softly and looks at Danny again, although he doesn't say anything else.

"Max and the team are on their way." She looks over Chin's shoulder and quickly turns away, looking horrified. She turns to Danny, "You OK?"

Danny looks at her with the expression that normally only Steve gets; the one that says 'You are a crazy person and I have no idea why the hell I have anything to do with you'.

"I've had better days," he says. The words are sarcastic, but the tone is mostly shocked.

They leave the box where it is and end up in Steve's office while they wait. No one wants to sit and look at the box if they don't have to. Steve's really, really sorry that they drank the last few cans of beer earlier, because it might be 4am, but he could definitely use something alcoholic right now.

The wait is silent. Chin and Kono look disturbed and concerned, Steve is mostly angry, but also concerned and Danny hasn't said much at all, which is making Steve worry more. He's leaning against Steve's desk, hands shoved in his pockets. Steve's worried about him and for him. That box was addressed to Danny and it's pretty clear that this is some kind of sick taunt from the killer. He's angry because even though the guy hasn't been in here, it still feels as though the office has been invaded; as though their safe space isn't as safe anymore. He knows it's stupid to think of anywhere as truly safe, but

It doesn't take Max and the lab guys long to arrive, despite the early hour. Steve goes out to talk to them and then leaves them to their job. They're quick and when they leave, they take the box with everything that came in it with them. Max has the heart in a cool box, which he tucks under his arm as he stops to tell Steve that he'll have a report to him some time tomorrow.

Once everyone has gone and it's just the four of them, Steve tells Chin and Kono to go home. He can see that they don't want to leave, that they would rather stay and help find this guy, but they're professionals and they know that they need to sleep. Before they go though, Kono goes to Danny. She rests a hand on his arm and wishes him a good night. He returns the sentiment, but he doesn't look up. Chin says goodbye from the doorway and Danny acknowledges him with nod. Chin pulls Steve out of the room.

"You gonna make sure he's alright tonight?" He asks Steve.

"Yeah, keep an eye on him boss, he seems pretty shook up," Kono adds as she joins them.

"I will. I'll take him back to my place," Steve promises.

Chin nods as if he approves and Kono gives Steve a faint grin. They both look tired and stressed and just for a moment he wants to find a way to keep them all safe, all of the time. It passes quickly though, because he knows his team and they don't need him to protect them.

He watches the two of them leave and then he goes back into his office. Danny lifts his head when Steve enters and he looks dead on his feet.

"Come on. We can't do any good here right now," Steve says.

"Yeah. OK." Danny takes his hands out of his pockets and pushes off of Steve's desk.

They go down to the parking garage together and Steve can't help but miss Danny's usual rapid fire commentary on everything from the game last night to what Grace did at school, to why Steve is a crazy adrenaline junkie. When they get there, Danny goes to his car. Steve catches his arm to stop him.

"Hey man, you can hardly keep your eyes open. You're in no state to drive."

"Fine. Take me home then," Danny says.

"You're staying at my place."

"I don't need baby sitting, Steve."

"I know, but I'd feel better if I knew you were somewhere with a halfway decent lock and an alarm system." Danny frowns. "Look, if it makes you feel better, you can cook breakfast in the morning."

"If I'm the guest, why do I have to make breakfast? I hope you treat your dates better than this," Danny grumbles, but he lets Steve tug him gently towards the truck and shove him into the passenger seat.

Danny still doesn't seem inclined to talk, so they drive in silence until Steve can't keep the words to himself any longer.

"Hey, you know that we're going to catch the psycho this time, right?"

"Yeah. I'm just, I just wonder why he's here. Why he sent that."

"I don't know. But we're going to find out and he's not going to get anywhere near you this time." Steve doesn't mean to phrase it in quite that way, but now that he's said it, he finds that he doesn't want to take it back.

"Did you not hear me earlier? I don't need protecting. Don't talk to me like I'm a victim, OK? This whole case is like a fucking nightmare, but I am more than capable of working it and of taking care of myself."

"I know you are. But that doesn't mean that I, that we, don't worry. This has got all of us spooked."

"I didn't think anything unnerved a SEAL. Don't they surgically remove all that messy fear stuff when you sign up?"

Steve has to work hard not to grin. He's long grown immune to Danny's endless tirades, although they got under his skin at first. Now he's just happy to hear Danny talking, and see his hands moving, like some kind of visual punctuation. It's the most animated that he's been all day and it makes the day feel a little less fucked up.

"Where do you get this stuff from?" Steve asks, when it looks as though Danny's about to wind down again.

"Where do I get this from? It's either that or you are, and I'd like to point out that the two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive, certifiably insane. I can't see any other reason for throwing yourself out of windows, using vehicles to open doors, charging into dangerous situations without backup and the many and varied ways you try, on a weekly basis, to get us killed." Danny jabs a finger in Steve's direction. His eyes are bright and Steve's surprised, as he always is, by the amount and depth of feelings that Danny evokes in him.

"I have you and Chin and Kono. You guys always have my back, right?" Steve knows he's fighting dirty, playing on that mile wide streak of loyalty that Danny has.

"Of course we do. Why would you even ask that? It's just that sometimes, it would be nice if we could have some back up as well. You know, _before_ the bad people with guns start shooting at us."

"I'll take that under advisement," Steve says, as seriously as he can manage. Danny throws his hands in the air and then spends the rest of the drive telling Steve exactly, in great detail, why he's an idiot with the survival sense of a demented lemming.

He's running out of steam by the time they get to Steve's, although he's still muttering less than flattering things. Steve can feel fatigue dragging at him and Danny looks more than half asleep on his feet. Steve gets him inside, digs out a pair of pyjama pants that are probably far too long, and a soft, faded t-shirt, and gives them to Danny, with a spare toothbrush, and a shove in the direction of the guest room, all the time trying not to think about Danny wearing Steve's clothes.

Once Danny's in the bathroom, cleaning his teeth and complaining about having to roll the legs of the pyjama pants up, Steve arms the alarm and checks all the doors and windows are locked and secure. There's nothing concrete to suggest that the killer is after Danny, but Steve can't shake the sense that the gruesome package was a message to Danny and he's not going to take any risks with his partner.

He checks, and re-checks all of the windows and doors in the house, and then goes to make sure Danny he has everything he needs, before he goes to his own room. He makes sure that his door is open, and flicks the safety off his gun, before leaving it on the bedside table, rather than in the drawer as he normally would.

The room is bright with sunlight when he wakes up. He lies still for a long few seconds, trying to work out what's pulled him out of a deep sleep. He can't hear anything, but he picks up his gun anyway. He creeps down the corridor, stopping to look in the guest room. The bed appears to have been slept in, but Danny isn't there right now. The bathroom is similarly empty. He moves quietly down the stairs, dodging the boards that he knows creak.

He steps into the kitchen, gun up and ready and comes face to face with Danny.

"Damn." He takes a breath, lowers the gun and makes sure that he puts the safety back on, still a little numb with the realisation that he was a split second away from shooting his partner.

Danny's leaning against the counter, a cup of what smells like coffee in one hand, while the other is braced on the work top behind him. His hair is messy and there's a heavier than usual dusting of golden stubble across his chin. He looks exhausted, but unconcerned about the fact that Steve nearly put a hole in him.

"I nearly shot you," Steve says, fingers clenching tightly around the gun to still the fine tremors that are part fear, part reaction to the fading adrenaline.

"What, for making a cup of coffee?" Danny asks, head tilting slightly to one side, like he's being serious, when Steve knows damned well he isn't.

Steve ignores the smart-assed remark, "I heard something and then you weren't in the guest room."

"And you decided to creep around the house with your gun? Wait, what am I saying, this is you. Of _course_ you thought that the appropriate response was to grab a gun."

"Yeah, well, the last time I heard something, I got tasered." He puts the gun down on the counter and moves to pour himself a cup of coffee. He's not going to be able to get back to sleep anyway, not now.

"You did change all the alarm codes and keys to the locks after that, right?" Danny asks, concern coloring his tone, "Because I distinctly remember telling you to do that." Steve really shouldn't enjoy the nagging as much as he does, but it's the way Danny shows he cares and Steve is honest enough with himself to admit that he missed out on that kind of concern for far too many years.

"Yes, I changed all the codes and all the locks."

"So, how, exactly, was anyone going to get in with alerting half of the neighbourhood?"

Steve decides that he's going to ignore that question, because there's no way he can answer it without giving Danny even more ammunition, "That reminds me, I'll have to give you the codes and get you some extra keys cut."

Danny's got his cup halfway to his mouth and at Steve's words he stops and just looks over the rim at Steve. "What? Why the hell would I need the codes to your alarms and keys to your house?"

Steve takes a breath. He's honestly not sure how Danny's going to take what he's going to suggest. "I want you to stay here until we catch this guy."

For what feels like several very long seconds, there's silence and Danny just stares at him. Steve sips his coffee and waits.

"OK, I know that you have some truly bizarre issues with my living arrangements, but this is going a little far, even for you," Danny says, finally.

"Look, a crazy murderer who nearly killed you five years ago gets out of prison and within a few months, he turns up on the island where you now live. And then he sends you that heart, like some kind of grisly present. Forgive me for being a little concerned about a member of my team."

Danny runs a hand through his hair and curses under his breath. "You think he's here because of me?"

"I don't know, but I don't believe in coincidences this big," he pauses, watches Danny scratch at the stubble on his jaw, as if he needs something to do with his hands. "Neither do you."

"No, no I don't. Just this once though, I'd like to be wrong." He puts his coffee cup down and crosses his arms over his chest. "I'm not moving in with you though."

"Danny..."

"No." Danny points at him, "You're a shitty roommate. Why would I want to share a house with a man who expects me to cook him breakfast and then greets me in the morning by waving a gun in my face." Danny pushes himself away from the work top and heads out of the kitchen.

"OK, in the first place, it's afternoon, not morning and secondly I didn't wave the gun and it certainly wasn't in your face." Steve follows him up the stairs, wondering why the hell he's trying to justify himself in his own home. It's times like this that he misses the Navy's clearly defined chain of command, where he could issue an order and have it obeyed without question. Danny has never done anything but question Steve. And bitch.

He gets to the doorway to the guest room, ready to press his point, when Danny shuts it in his face. Steve concedes this round with a grudging grace, because he is not quite childish enough to shout at his partner through a closed door, but as far as he is concerned, this conversation is far from over.

The drive to the office is like most other mornings they've car shared; they banter and argue and Danny mocks the radio and talks about what he's planning to do with Grace the next time he has her for weekend, and Steve tries to get Danny to agree that he's coming to like Hawaii and makes suggestions for places that Danny can take his daughter. It's comfortable and familiar and Steve has no idea why they don't car share all the time. There's only the slightest hint of yesterday's tension at first, but the closer they get to the office, the more Steve feels it return.

They walk into the office together and Kono looks up from the computer table and grins at them.

"Hey brah," she calls to Danny, "You managed not to shoot boss man then? I'm impressed."

Danny waves his hand in Steve's direction, "He nearly shot me," he says, then disappears quickly into his office.

Kono's eyes widen and she stares at Steve as if she's not quite sure whether to laugh or hit him.

"What? No, I did not nearly shoot him," He protests, throwing his hands up.

"Waved the gun in my face and everything," Danny calls from his office, voice laced with amusement.

"Why were you pointing a gun at him? I mean, I could understand if _he'd_ been thinking of shooting _you_ ," Chin asks as he walks past Steve, tray of coffee cups in his hand. Steve reaches for a cup as Chin passes, but the other man's too quick and the caffeine is out of reach before Steve can grab it.

"See, see, they understand my suffering," Danny crows, emerging from his office.

Chin looks from Steve to Danny and grins. "Actually, I was thinking more of the fact that you sometimes have temper issues, but yeah, I guess I can see the suffering part too."

"Hey. I don't have temper issues." When Chin makes a sceptical face, Danny frowns and says "OK, well, maybe I have some issues, but only with our reckless leader's inability to follow any kind of sensible police procedure."

Kono laughs and Steve's not sure which of them she's laughing at.

"Look, I didn't, well, OK, I _did_ point a gun at him, but it was an accident." Steve is pretty sure that as the boss, he's not supposed to be explaining himself to his team, but on the other hand, after the stress of yesterday, he's ready to be the bad guy if it helps.

"Yeah, after you'd 'accidentally' snuck down the stairs in full stealth mode," Danny says, reaching between Kono and Chin to grab one of the coffees.

"I thought I heard something and I maybe, just maybe, over reacted, a little. And I didn't actually put in the gun in your face, there was a kitchen table between us," He says, pointing at Danny. He looks at Chin, "Can I have some coffee now, please?"

Chin and Kono look at each other and then they both look at Danny, and he doesn't care that they're ganging up on him, not when there's something stupidly warm and happy bubbling up in his chest that he doesn't want to put a name to.

"OK, fine, whatever. Give him the coffee," Danny says.

Chin holds out the tray and Steve snatches a cup before they change their minds. As they walk towards the main table, Kono elbows Steve and says, "I can't believe you pulled a gun on your partner."

"It wasn't intentional. I guess I'm still a little jumpy from the last time someone broke into my place. And what with that crazy delivery yesterday..." He trails off. Kono nods and her teasing look disappears as she glances over at Danny. As much as Steve hates this case, he appreciates the way the team are pulling together, looking out for each other and taking care of one of their own.

"So, what have we got?" Danny asks, all business, as if this is just another case.

Steve forgets, sometimes, that Danny is a cop through and through; that this isn't just a job to him, that this is who he is. Steve took on the task force because he wanted to find Hess. He's kept the job because he's seen the good that he can do, the people he can help in the process of chasing down the man who murdered his father. Danny told him once that he'd always wanted to be a cop, was never interested in being anything else. When Steve sees him like this, in his element, he understands why Danny couldn't be anything but a cop. And he can't help but be glad for that.

"Nothing so far on the hotel guest lists," Chin says.

"Not surprising," Steve replies, "If he's in one of the main hotels, he's probably not going to be using his own name, just in case."

"We've circulated the most recent picture we have to all law enforcement personnel, and HPD has units visiting the cheap hotels and rentals now, but so far, they haven't come up with anything," Kono adds.

Steve sips at his coffee, "Anything from forensics yet?"

Chin's expression sours, "What fingerprints there were belonged to the people who handled the box after it was delivered here. No fibres, hairs, DNA or anything else that they could trace. The box, label and tape are all generic and sold in any one of a hundred stores all over the island."

"What about the contents?" Danny asks, and it's only because Steve knows him so well that he catches the ever so slight hesitation before the word contents.

"The newspaper was yesterday's edition of the Honolulu Advertiser. The petals were from a white rose and the heart was human."

"From our victim." Steve doesn't really mean it as a question.

"Unfortunately, no," Kono says.

Danny looks at her sharply, "What do you mean, no?"

"The heart didn't come from Beckford," Chin replies.

"Fuck." Danny braces his hands on the table and Steve can wholeheartedly appreciate the sentiment.

Steve looks at Chin, "So there's another victim that we haven't found yet?"

"Yep. As far as Max can tell, the victim was probably killed yesterday."

"Then our guy's changed his pattern? Beckford was only killed four days ago, according to Max." Kono says.

"Actually, no, again. Max has pushed his estimate of Beckford's death back. He says he's done some further tests and it looks as though Beckford was kept on ice, literally."

"Why? What's the point of keeping a body frozen like that?" Kono asks, puzzled.

"To throw us off. To make us think that we had more time than we did," Danny says.

Chins frowns, "Did he do this last time?"

Danny shakes his head, "No. This whole thing; the box, the freezing the body thing, it's all new, but I'm not surprised."

"Why not?" Steve doesn't like the way Danny talks about this guy, as if he understands him.

"I worked nothing else but this case for six solid months, OK. Just because we couldn't catch him doesn't mean that we didn't know anything about him. He liked playing games, leaving clues at each scene as to who the next victim was. We got damned close a couple of times, too, but we never realised until after the fact."

"Damn," Kono says.

"That's not in the Jersey case files." Chin crosses his arms, and Steve knows that he's wondering what else is missing, because that was Steve's first thought too.

"No. We kept that back. Only a few of us knew about the clues."

"Why?"

"In the early days, we'd had a problem with some leaks from the department, stuff ending up in the papers, that kind of thing. We knew the clues could be vital and we didn't want to risk such important and sensitive information getting out." Danny replies.

"So what kinds of clues did he leave?" Steve asks.

"Newspaper articles with words circled or highlighted. Things written on the walls in UV ink. One time there was a message written on a ribbon that was wrapped around the stem of a rose. The clues changed every time. Sometimes it'd be a name, usually a first name, then s ome kind of physical location or job title, or occasionally a car make and model. Nothing that we could pin down in five days. But that was the point. He didn't want us to solve the puzzles, he just wanted to believe that he was smarter than we were."

Kono looks thoughtful, "You think that the box was another clue?"

"Maybe it's just a refinement. We know that serial killers tend to refine their technique and signatures over time, right?" Chin says.

"It's a clue. It's his way of saying 'fuck you' to the police," Danny replies.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't explain why he's come out to Hawaii and why he addressed the box to you," Kono points out.

Danny throws his hands up. "The guy is a psycho, OK? Who the hell knows what's going on in that head of his. He's even crazier than our own resident super SEAL here."

Steve frowns. "Danny..."

"Yes. I know. Unlikely coincidences. Look, I'm just saying that we shouldn't jump to any conclusions."

"Actually, in this case, I think we should. This guy could just be screwing with us, but if there's the slightest chance that he's here on some kind of vendetta against you, then we need to be prepared for that," Steve says.

"Prepared? No, no way. Your idea of prepared probably involves rocket launchers, trip wires and the use of land mines."

"This isn't a joke. This could be a real, serious threat and we're not just going to ignore it."

"This man is a scary killer, who has murdered many people. I know this, believe me. I have seen what he's capable of, up close and way too personal. But, and this is the important bit, so pay attention, there is no reason at all to think that he's doing anything other than trying to play mind games." Danny's arms are folded over his chest, and his biceps strain the material of his shirt. In any other situation, Steve would have taken a moment to appreciate the sight, but here and now he has more important concerns. Like making his stubborn, wilful partner see sense.

"And if he was able to leave you clues as to who his next victim was going to be, then he had to have been stalking that person before he murdered them. How do we know that he didn't play these kind of games with them?" Steve asks.

"We never found anything to suggest that he had any kind of contact any of the victims before he attacked them," Danny says.

"He could have taken any evidence of prior contact away with him," Kono suggests. Danny shots her an annoyed look.

"There was nothing that even hinted at it in any of the stuff that we found at his hideout. He'd chosen them, watched them, got to know their routines and habits, yeah. As far as we could tell, the victims never met him until he attacked them."

"Maybe he took it away and then destroyed it," Chin says as Danny throws up his hands in his classic 'I work with idiots' expression.

"He didn't have time to take anything from the hideout at the warehouse, OK? I repeat, there was nothing there that suggested that he'd had any kind of direct contact with any of the victims."

Steve speaks as soon as Danny pauses for breath, because Steve can tell that he's gearing up for a long rant, "It really doesn't matter whether he did or not. Sending anything direct to the police, to you, _is_ a break from the previous pattern and this man is too dangerous to take chances with."

"Are you serious? _Now_ you want to not take any chances? Now, when we've not even established that there's a genuine threat? Not when people are shooting at us, or trying to drive us off the road?" Danny's hands are moving quickly now, a very obvious barometer of his agitation levels.

"Come on. I'm not suggesting that you have an armed guard. I'm just saying that I think that one of us should be with you at all times, and you should stay at my place until we catch the guy." Steve looks at the others and sees agreement on their faces.

"It's just a precaution, brah. If it was one of us, you'd want to do the same thing, right?" Kono says.

"I... Fine, yes, OK. But I draw the line at staying with McGarrett."

Steve doesn't argue. As far as he's concerned, it doesn't matter how much Danny bitches and argues, he's staying at Steve's place whether he likes it or not. He's mostly glad that Rachel and Grace are away on holiday right now, because it means that they don't have to worry about assigning a protection detail to them. On the other hand, it might make Danny less determined to ignore the potential risks.

Chin looks at Steve then looks away, the beginnings of a smirk turning the corners of his mouth upwards. Kono doesn't even bother to hide her grin. Steve wonders if he's become more transparent since he started working with them, or whether they've just got to know him better than he realised. He's a little surprised by how comfortable he is with that idea.

Danny, however, has been able to read Steve from the very start. He's got an almost infallible talent for understanding people within minutes of meeting them; he knew something was wrong about Nick, although Steve had put that down to him not liking the way Nick had tried to exclude Danny. He'd been mostly joking when he'd said it was jealousy, although there was a little spark of hope there too.

So knowing how good Danny usually is at reading people, it surprises Steve that Danny is so keen to downplay any possibility that Grady is actively targeting him. Steve would like to think that it's just down to a need for revenge, but the fact that Danny matches the killer's victim profile so well leaves him with the disturbing impression that there's more to it. That and the fact that he sent Danny a heart surrounded by rose petals. That's more like some kind of grotesque serial killer Valentine's gift. The past history just reinforces the unease that has been winding itself through Steve's thoughts for the last two days.

"So, moving on," Chin says, earning himself a glare from Danny, that does absolutely nothing to dim the grin on Chin's face, "Max hasn't been able to find a match for the DNA he recovered from the heart, so it means that the victim hasn't spent any time in custody."

"Which leaves us where, exactly?" Steve asks.

"No witnesses at the first victims' house. No usable forensics from the house, the victim or the box. Nothing so far from the hotels and motels. And then we've got a second victim that we can't identify. All we have is a name that the perp almost certainly isn't using and a picture that is probably out of date by now. Does that about sum it up?" Danny says, sarcasm and frustration heavy in his voice,

"OK, look, let's start digging, see what we can find out about Grady. He might have some kind of connection to the island, or there might be someone, somewhere who knows where he is right now. Chin, Kono, start combing through his records, go back as far as you can. We can't afford to overlook anything," Steve says. Chin and Kono both nod and head for their offices.

Steve looks at Danny.

"What are we going to be doing, while they're chasing our perp's past?" His partner asks.

"You said you got to know this guy pretty well, when you were hunting him before?"

"Yes, and?" Danny looks suspiciously at him.

"And. You kept the clues he left out of the files. What else is missing?"

"Nothing. Don't look at me like that. What, you think I'd lie to you, is that what you think?"

"No, of course I don't," Steve raises his hands, hoping his expression is suitably placating. "But I had to ask. Come on," he says when Danny glares at him, "You'd do the same."

"Maybe. But unlike you, Steven, I actually have the ability to use this little thing called tact. Maybe you've heard of it?"

Steve grins. It's stupid, but every time Danny calls him Steven, or babe, or one of the other stupid endearments that he throws around without concern, it makes Steve happy in a way he didn't know he craved until he met Danny. Or maybe it's Danny that makes him crave it.

"Can't say that I have," He answers.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Danny mutters, as he heads back to his own office.

Steve is tempted to follow him, to keep him in sight at all times, but Danny is going to know what Steve's doing and he's not going to like it. And Steve knows enough about his partner to understand that sometimes he needs to pick his battles carefully. If he doesn't push too hard now, he's got a better chance of getting his way about Danny moving into his place later. Not that getting Danny to agree will be easy, but if he has to, Steve's quite prepared to arrange for Chin and Kono to go to Danny's place and take his stuff over to Steve's without Danny knowing. He reasons that it'll be harder for Danny to fight the inevitable when that involves moving half of his worldly possessions back from Steve's house.

Kidnapping Danny is not out of the question either, but only as a last resort.

He heads back to his own and office and before long, it's looking like this is going to be another slow, tedious day spent trawling through archives and records and finding nothing that gets them any closer to nailing this guy. Steve has no idea how Danny could have done this for six months and not gone insane. He's had his share of tedious ops in the Navy, periods when he had plenty of time to kill and nothing to do to fill it, but this is worse, because despite all of the information and resources that they have at their disposal, they still can't seem to find that one thing that will lead them to the guy that they're hunting. He can't imagine the frustration that must build up from spending every day like this, knowing that unless you can break the case, the murderer isn't going to stop, he's going to keep taking victims, regular as clockwork, but he's got the sinking feeling that he's about to find out.

His eyes are starting to feel gritty from spending so long staring at reports and files and scanned images when he decides that he needs a break. He's on his way across the office to see what Danny's doing and if he wants to take a walk and pick up coffee for the team or something when Chin intercepts him.

"Hey, just got a call from HPD," He says.

"They find something?" Steve asks, hope finally rising.

"Yeah. The body that goes with the heart Grady sent," Chin says grimly. His gaze shifts to Steve's left and Steve turns.

Danny's standing in the doorway. And if Steve feels tired, then Danny looks exhausted. Steve'd really like to tell Danny to stay put, but Danny's already glaring at him as if he can read Steve's mind and he decides that this is another battle he needs to cede to his partner's stubbornness.

"OK. Give me the address and grab Kono. We'll meet you two there ."

Chin nods and heads off. Steve turns and Danny is there, ready to fall into step with him on the way down to the car. He gives up the keys without comment, although he does smirk at Steve as he hands them over. Steve resists the urge to roll his eyes, but it's a close thing.

"Is it always like this?" He asks when they're well on their way, the car winding through the back roads to the victim's house.

"What? Working a serial case?" When Steve nods, Danny sighs, "Yeah, pretty much. This case was the worst though. I told you it drove the whole team a little crazy, right?"

"Yeah, yeah you did. I can see why," Steve says, because he really can.

He glances over and sees Danny open his mouth to say something, and then something hits the windscreen hard enough to send cracks and fractures across most of the glass. Steve jerks the wheel and stamps on the brake. He feels the car hit something in the road and he spares a brief hope that it isn't a person or a dog or something, before his attention is taken up with trying to keep the car from sliding totally out of control and flipping.

There's a moment when he thinks he's got it under control at last, but just as quickly it spins out again and then there's the sound of metal hitting something solid and everything gets kinda crazy and fuzzy for a while.

Eventually, his vision clears and his head stops ringing, and starts hurting in a way he recognises from more than one previous concussion. He undertakes a quick inventory and decides that everything is accounted for and as far as he can tell, unbroken. He turns his head to the passenger seat, ignoring the way the sudden movement makes his vision swim again. The empty seat and open passenger door send a spike of panic through him. Even with the pounding at his temples he knows that there's no way that Danny would willing leave him alone and dazed in the car. He just wouldn't leave Steve if he was injured, same as Steve would never leave Danny. It's one of the foundations on which their partnership has been built; they are always there for each other, no matter what.

Steve opens his door and climbs out. He has to grab the roof when his legs wobble underneath him, but he locks his knees and breathes through the dizziness and nausea and manages to stay upright.

They'd been driving along a quiet back road and there isn't a house or another car in sight. It's the perfect spot for an ambush and that just cranks Steve's unease up by another few notches and he wonders if he should have seen this coming.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and is relieved to see that it's survived the crash. He hits on of his speed dial numbers and Chin picks up on the second ring.

"Hey, you guys get lost?"

"There was an accident. I think someone ambushed us, and Danny's gone."

"Where are you?" Chin asks. There's obvious concern in his voice, but he doesn't waste time asking questions that Steve doesn't have the answers to. Steve tells him the location and Chin says they'll be there as quickly as possible.

Steve hangs up, then checks on the car. The windscreen is completely wrecked and is actually hanging out of the frame in one corner. The tires look as though they've been shredded, which explains the loss of control. He looks back down the road, eyes following the trail of tire tracks. He can't really remember what happened after the windscreen went, but it looks as though he ran off the road, clipped a tree, spun the car 180 degrees and then slammed sideways into another tree. The car's a mess and Danny is not going to be happy when he finds out.

That's when Steve's legs finally give out and he ends up sitting on his ass. He rests his elbows on his knees and puts his head in his hands. He winces when his fingers find a sore patch and he's not surprised that they come away red and sticky. He doesn't bother wiping the blood away, just concentrates on breathing slowly and keeping the panic at bay until the rest of the team get here.

There's no way that this was an accident. Someone threw something at the windscreen and he's pretty sure that the same person used a stinger or something similar to chew up the tires. It all points to a carefully planned attack. Steve's certain that Grady is behind it and it scares the fuck out of him to think that Danny might be in that psycho's hands.

He hears the deep roar of Chin's bike a good minute before he actually sees him. Kono's car is right behind her cousin and behind her there are a couple of HPD cars and an ambulance. and Steve is very relieved to see them both. He knows that they'll understand his fear and that they'll back Steve, do whatever it takes to get Danny back, because he's as much family to them as he is to Steve.

Kono pulls in next to the wrecked Camaro and is out of the car and jogging over to Steve before anyone else gets there.

"You OK? You're bleeding." She turns and waves over the paramedic who is just climbing down from the ambulance.

"I'm fine. I need you to track the GPS on Danny's cell and find out where he is."

"Sure." She heads back to her car and pulls her laptop out of the back seat, resting it on the roof of the car.

The paramedic reaches Steve and starts to fuss about his bleeding head. Chin walks around the Camaro, and bends to look in the passenger side, gloved hands braced in his thighs. Steve watches his team, calm and efficient despite the fact that one of their own is missing and tries not to think about what'll happen to them all if they don't get to Danny in time.

Chin walks over to Steve. "There's a little blood on the passenger side, but not enough to cause concern. I think he probably got a crack on the head, same as you."

Steve nods, relieved. The paramedic pulls his head back down, not particularly gently, and sticks a butterfly plaster over the cut at Steve's hairline, before quizzing him about the head injury. Steve knows that if the medic even suspects that he has a concussion, she'll try and make him go to the hospital and they just don't have that much time, so he lies and as soon as he can, he waves the medic off and goes to join Kono.

"Have you got a location?" He asks.

Kono looks devastated and she shakes her head, "Nothing. Either his cell isn't on..."

"Or it isn't working anymore," Steve finishes. Frustrated, he slams his hand against the car.

"Steve. We're gonna find him, you know that," Chin says.

Steve nods and takes a breath. He can't look Chin in the eye though, because Chin's right, they will find Danny, but Steve's scared that they're not going to find him in time .

"You should go get yourself checked out. We can go work the crime scene, see if we can find anything to help us locate Danny," Kono says, clearly concerned.

"No, I'm not going to hospital." He holds up a hand as Kono starts to protest, "I can't sit this one out, OK. This guy took Danny on my watch." She looks unconvinced, but she doesn't argue and Steve is grateful for that.

"Hey, I've got fresh tire tracks here." Chin calls.

Steve and Kono head over. The soft verge at the side of the road is mostly mud and there's a clear impression.

"Great. Get a cast made of it and have it sent priority to forensics," Steve says. He locks the faint hope that this might just be the clue that they need away in the same place that he's shoved the fear for his partner. He can't afford either of those emotions clouding his thoughts, but it's almost as hard to focus now as it was when Mary was kidnapped. Then he had Danny with him to help keep him grounded. Chin and Kono are doing a damned fine job so far, but he still feels Danny's absence like a missing limb.

"OK, lets get over to the crime scene and turn it upside down," Steve says, trying for his normal tone, and knowing that he's missing by miles.

He gets into the passenger seat of Kono's car and as he does, he's already feeling the pull and burn of strained muscles and deep bruises and his head is still ringing a little. He's going to suffer tomorrow, but it's nothing that he hasn't been through before and if they don't get Danny back, he won't be worrying about a few aches and pains in the coming days anyway.

The ambush didn't happen far from the house where the most recent victim was found, and it just confirms Steve's growing suspicion that this was a set up from the very beginning. That Grady has been doing his homework on Danny and the team. The first murder was just to get their attention, to get Danny on the case. The second was to get them out here, into an ambush. Steve realises that he made a tactical error in assuming that Grady wasn't capable of this kind of planning, or this level of obsession. He should have known better and he can only hope Danny isn't being made to suffer because of Steve's oversight.

When they get to the scene, Steve ducks under the police tape, pulling on his gloves as he goes.

"The body's in the dining room, to the left," Chin says from behind him.

Steve pushes open the half closed door on his left . He's seen the crime scene photos of the previous victims, and he's no stranger to the gruesome, but even so, the sight of the body sitting at the table, in front of a fully laid place setting, with a hole cut in its chest and that fucking white rose sitting obscenely in the space where the heart should be makes him pause.

Just for a dizzying moment, he sees Danny's face on the body. He has to close his eyes and breath deeply. When he opens his eyes again, Chin and Kono are already busy prowling the room for clues, and carefully not looking at him. He's grateful for the time to get his shit together, again.

Since coming home, he's found that it's much easier to keep a calm detachment from the situation when the person in danger isn't someone you care about. He learnt that brutal lesson with his dad, then Mary, and Chin, and it's no easier now it's Danny that's in trouble. He's starting to wonder if he's cursed, or just really bad luck to the people around him. He stows that thought away, knows thinking like that isn't going help him or Danny, but he also knows it's going to come back and taunt him, sooner or later.

He leaves Kono and Chin to go over the room; they know what they're doing and they're going to pick the room clean of any clues it holds. Steve leaves them to work the room and he walks through the dinning room and into the kitchen. There's a plate and and two glasses in the sink. Steve picks the glasses up and sniffs both of them carefully. One of them just smells of whisky, the other has a sweet smell underneath the alcohol and it takes him several seconds to place the underlying scent. He quickly pulls the glass away from his face when he realises that it's chloroform he can smell. He returns to the dining room, grabs a handful of evidence bags and goes bag to bag up the drugged glass.

There's nothing out of the ordinary in the rest of the kitchen. Nothing that offers a clue about how Grady chooses his victims, and more importantly where he might have taken Danny. He scrubs a hand through his hair and feels the frustration, humming under his skin.

The three of them cover the entire house, but there's nothing that gives them anything more than they already have in the way of clues. Steve makes them go over the place a second time, making them each take different rooms, just in case they missed anything. He's almost ready to make them go over it a third time when Chin catches his arm.

"Steve. There's nothing here. We're wasting time and energy going over this place."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do instead? This psycho has Danny and we don't have the faintest idea where they are." Steve knows his desperation is showing through the cracks in his voice, but he can't stop it.

"I _know_. But the only thing we can do is go back to the office and go over absolutely everything yet again; all the stuff in the files, all the stuff that Danny told us. The forensics, the autopsy reports. Everything. And we'll keep going over it until we find something. We will get him back, brah, and in one piece. You have to believe that, or you're going to drive yourself insane." Chin's voice is calm and rational, but there's an intensity and a certainty behind his words that makes Steve feel like a rookie.

He doesn't trust himself to say anything, so he just nods. Chin watches him for a few seconds longer, then nods back and lets go of Steve's arm. Steve's head is aching and it's only partly to do with the knock he took earlier. He's all too a ware of the way his heart is racing, he feels every beat like a clock, counting down another second that Danny's in Grady's hands and out of Steve's reach.

They're all packed up and about to leave when the bag that Kono left by the doorway beeps, loudly. Kono looks up and then she shoots across the room. She rips the laptop out of the bag and opens it, balancing it on her arm.

"What is it?" Steve asks.

"I left the cell tracking programme running," she says, eyes on the screen.

"And?" Steve asks, trying not to be impatient, or to let the flicker of hope grow.

"Danny's cell has just shown up," She says with a mix of delight and relief in her voice.

"Where?" Chin asks, looking over her shoulder.

Kono hits a few keys, bringing up a street view. "It looks like a parking lot, downtown."

"Lets go."

They don't run for door, but it's close. Steve actually makes Chin call for back up, and ignores the looks that Chin and Kono give him . He isn't going to take any chances with Danny's life in the hands of a murderer. He wants Danny to be able to say 'I told you so', when this is all over.

It takes them a while to reach the parking lot, as they have to dodge rush hour traffic. Steve fidgets the whole way, unable to completely contain his agitation. He knows he's making Kono crazy from the way she keeps glancing sideways at him. She pulls in to a space in the street by the lot with a squeal of tires and brakes and a glare at Steve.

There are a couple of HPD units already there, waiting for them. They've learnt not to make a move without checking when Five-0 are involved. The first couple of times the team worked with HPD, the police went in first. HPD screwed up the first op, leading to the perp skipping out before they could corner him, and almost shot Kono in the second. Steve's not sure if it was his icy stares and the way he kept his gun unholstered, or the way Danny shouted at them for ten minutes straight, a tirade that included threatening to _let_ Steve shoot the next unit that fucked up one of Five-0's cases that persuaded HPD to wait for them since then.

The lot is mostly empty, just a handful cars parked there. There are fences on three sides and the lot is sandwiched between what seems to be an empty office block on one side and a row of shops on the other. Steve checks the windows overlooking the lot. The chance of the killer being a marksman and trying to take them out from range is remote, but it's not entirely impossible. Steve doesn't remember anything about guns in Grady's file, and he doesn't see any tell tale signs. Knowing that they don't have time to waste, he decides it's an acceptable risk.

The three of them enter the lot, HPD officers following them. They sweep across the lot in a line. Steve has no problem with breaking into every car and checking the whole interior, as well as the trunk. When they come up empty handed, Steve's frustration burns in his gut like acid, bitter and sour.

"There's nothing here," Steve says, the urge to punch something getting stronger.

"The signal was still coming from the lot when we pulled up here," Kono says, desperation edging her voice.

"Hey," Chin calls from a car a little further down.

Steve and Kono jog over to where he's kneeling by the rear bumper, stretching out, arm reaching under the car. When he pulls back and sits up, he has a cellphone in his hand. Steve feels as though the breath has been punched out of his lungs. It's a sign that Danny was here, alive and conscious if he was able to turn the phone on and drop it. It doesn't ease that nagging fear of what Danny might be going through right now, but at least they know that they're in the right place.

"I'll check and see if the car's registered to an address near here," Kono suggests, already turning away and moving back towards her car.

Steve looks up at the buildings around them and something clicks in his memory. "Kono, wait. Remember when Danny was telling us about when he stumbled into Grady's hideout?"

"He said it was an abandoned warehouse," She says, looking at the buildings around them. "You think he could be in the empty office block?"

"I think we should check it out," Steve replies. He sends Kono to get the rifle, just in case they can get a long range shot at Grady and take him out without putting Danny in any further danger.

The rear entrance door is closed and locked, but it's easy enough for Steve to force the lock, although he winces at the noise it makes. He waits for several seconds, but there's no sign that his entrance has been noticed, so he eases the door open and slips inside, Chin and Kono close behind him. Several of the uniformed officers follow them. Steve would have liked to have had an armed response unit, but there would be no way of getting them there in under fifteen minutes and he couldn't have waited that long.

Steve pulls a building map off of the wall. The place looks as though it's split into two wings, each with its own bank of elevators and own staircase. There's a connecting walkway every other floor. The place looks like a warren of corridors and offices and it's going to be a fucking nightmare to search without giving themselves away.

He looks at Kono and points towards the staircase to the west wing. She nods back. Chin taps a couple of the uniforms on the shoulder as he passes them and he and Kono lead them up the stairs. Steve motions with his hands that he wants the remaining HPD officers to stay in the lobby. He knows Danny's going to give him hell for not taking anyone with him, but the truth is that if he can't have his team at his back, he'd rather not have anyone. He can't trust other people not to get in his way, and get themselves or other people killed.

The second floor is mostly big, empty meeting rooms, so it takes just seconds to check each of them. He heads up to the next floor at a run. He catches sight of Chin across one of the walkways. Chin shakes his head and Steve returns the gesture. He fights down the sick feeling that's squirming in his belly that maybe they're wrong and Danny isn't here. Because if he isn't, then they're right back at the start, with no leads and no time.

He has to stop to take a breath before he can focus on checking each and every room. He can't afford to be distracted by doubts. Later, once this is over, even if they get Danny back, he knows that the fear will catch him up and demand payment. It won't be the first time, although every time he hopes it's the last. He'll gladly pay his dues though, if he can just find his partner in time.

He's about half way through checking the rooms on the third floor when he hears something on the floor above. It's not much, maybe the creak of a chair or a table. He freezes and holds his breath. A second later, there's some foot falls. He backs out of the room he was in, into the corridor and then waits again. What feels like an eternity later, he hears the sound of more foot steps and then the squeak of a door being opened or closed. He marks where he thinks the sounds are coming from in his mental map of the building and heads for the stairs. He moves as quickly as he dares, as quickly as he can without making too much noise. It's not easy, none of the floors have any carpet, so sound carries further than it would normally.

When he gets to the fourth floor, he eases the door open slowly and peers through the gap. He can't see anything. He slips into the corridor, hugging the wall and keeping low, although he knows that it's really not going to help him if Grady leaves the room, because unless Steve's right next to an open doorway, there's no cover at all in the hallway.

As he gets closer to the room he thinks the sounds were coming from, he can hear a voice. He can't make out the words, and it's definitely not Danny's voice, but the fact that Grady is talking, if it is Grady, hopefully means that Danny's here and still alive. The relief that thought brings is strong enough to make him pause. It's as much of a distraction as the fear is though, so he lets it go and resumes his slow progress towards the room near the end of the corridor.

He ducks quickly into one of the empty rooms in the corridor and pulls out his phone. He sends a quick text to Chin to let him know where he is and that he thinks he's found Grady. A reply comes within seconds, confirming that Chin and the uniforms are on their way up. Kono is going to head to one of the rooms on the opposite wing, to see if she can get a shot at Grady. Steve calculates the time it's likely to take Chin to cross from the other wing and make his way up the stairs and decides that it isn't going to take him long and that he'll be there in a couple of minutes to provide back up if Steve needs it.

The corridor is still empty when he sticks his head quickly around the door, so he edges out and makes his way quickly to the room the noises were coming from. He crouches down and risks a quick glance around the door.

He has to take a slow, deep breath afterwards. Grady and Danny are both there. Danny is tied to a chair, half facing the door. There's a large bruise by his hairline that probably came from the car crash and he's gagged. The thing that's making Steve's hands shake with anger and a whole host of other emotions he doesn't want to name is that Danny's shirt is open and there's a neat little circle cut into his chest, right over his heart. It doesn't look deep, not fatal, thank God, but it's got to hurt like a bitch and it's obvious that it's meant to torment, meant to remind Danny what's ultimately going to happen to him. Grady is fucking playing with Danny and Steve is going to take a huge amount of enjoyment in ripping this guy's throat out with his hands, and no amount of bitching from Danny about proper procedures is going to stop him.

A faint sound at the other end of the corridor catches his attention and he turns to see Chin and the uniforms arriving. Chin motions to the cops to stay put and moves quickly and silently up to crouch beside Steve. He doesn't speak, but his expression asks the question. Steve nods and holds up two fingers. Chin nods. Steve feels calmer with Chin beside him. Kono is almost certainly in place by now as well. He looks at Chin again and Chin looks back, gaze steady and calm and Steve reaches for the place in his head where nothing but doing the job matters, where he can put aside all the anger and bitter fear until he has the luxury of time to fall apart.

He sticks his head around the door again, checking where Grady is in the room, but this time, Grady happens to be looking right at the door and sees him. Steve curses under his breath and pushes himself to his feet and rolls himself around the door, sensing Chin right behind him and the uniforms running down the corridor to join them.

Grady is crouched on one knee behind Danny, thin, wickedly sharp knife pressing hard enough against the skin of Danny's throat that there's already a thin red line and a few drops of blood escape to soak into the collar of Danny's shirt. There's a second or two where no-one moves or speaks, and then Grady moves, the hand not holding the knife to Danny's throat curving around Danny's arm. Steve sees the flash of metal and the thought flashes through his head that Grady's going to try and cut the veins in Danny's wrist again. Steve's moving before he even consciously decides to, although he doesn't get more than a step or two before a shot rings out. Blood splashes across Danny's shoulder and throat and Grady howls. He topples over to the side, clutching his left shoulder.

Steve looks out of the broken window and sees Kono, rifle in hand, heading out of the room. Grady's movement must have given her the opening she needed to take the shot without hitting Danny and she took it. Steve fucking loves his team, he really does.

He holsters his gun and heads straight for Danny. He carefully unties the gag and then Danny's wrists and ankles.

"You OK?" He asks, before he can stop himself.

Danny gives him a look of disbelief and Steve can see Chin out of the corner of his eye, eyebrow raised.

"What took you so fucking long?" Danny says. His voice is a little rusty and he coughs after he speaks, but he sounds so normal and so alive that Steve genuinely has to stop himself hugging his partner.

Kono comes barrelling into the room then. She heads for Danny, arms open as if she's going to hug him, but stops when she sees the wounds. Her face pales a little, but she pulls herself together in seconds and settles for putting her hand on Danny's shoulder instead.

"Hey, glad you're still in one piece, brah."

"Yeah, me too," Danny says, grinning. He's pale and he still looks groggy, but the grin makes his face light up and that's a sight that Steve will never get tired of.

Chin hauls Grady to his feet. He's not exactly gentle about it and Grady is making pathetic noises that Steve takes a vicious pleasure in. He turns away as Chin's reaching for his cuffs. Steve offers Danny a hand, which Danny takes with no fuss, which means that he's hurting more than he'll admit to. He puts his weight gingerly on his left foot, as if he's not sure it'll hold him up. Steve turns to one of the uniforms, and he's about to tell them to radio for an ambulance when there's the sound of a scuffle and he hears Kono shout something.

He feels a tug at his waistband as he's turning and then there's the sound of a gunshot, surprisingly loud in the confined space. He turns all the way back. Chin's just picking himself up off the floor. It's the first time that Steve can remember seeing him look honestly shocked. Grady is on the floor, there's a bullet hole in his chest, right through his heart and he's clearly dead. Danny's holding a gun and Steve realises that's what the tug at his belt was, Danny drawing Steve's gun.

Steve cannot summon up any kind of remorse at all at the fact that Grady's dead. He's half sorry that he wasn't the one to send him to hell, but he can't begrudge Danny that pleasure.

Chin comes over, "Sorry. He didn't have a weapon, and I just didn't expect him to try anything, the way he was bitching about the shoulder."

"Not your fault," Danny says, "He was fucking insane. And I mean that in the literal sense."

He turns and offers Steve his gun back. Steve takes it and holsters it again. He refuses to admit that he gets a certain amount of satisfaction from the fact that Danny used his gun. He keeps that thought to himself and just wraps his arm around Danny's waist at the same time as grabbing Danny's arm and dragging it across Steve's shoulders.

"Jesus, McGarrett, a little warning? I'm not that easy," Danny says, overbalancing slightly and leaning into Steve as a result.

"Yeah, I noticed." Steve tightens his grip a little, to make sure that Danny doesn't get any bright ideas about pulling away. "Now shut up and lets get out of here."

"Fine. This still doesn't mean that I'm putting out though, so don't get your hopes up."

"Who says I'd want you to put out?" Steve says, grinning, letting the familiar banter help settle his still jangling nerves. He looks at Kono and she nods and makes a shooing motion with her hand. Steve knows that she and Chin will deal with the scene. One of the uniforms tells Steve that there's an ambulance waiting downstairs. Danny pulls a face, but Steve just glares at him. Danny grumbles, but doesn't actually argue. Steve wonders if the uniforms have started calling an ambulance on spec when they know they're working with Five-0. He doesn't know if he should approve or not either.

It takes them a long time to get down the stairs and more than once, Steve is tempted to just pick his partner up. He doesn't, partly because Danny may not be as tall as Steve, but he's solid and Steve's not entirely sure he can carry him down three flights of stairs, but mostly because he suspects Danny would actually shoot him if he even tried.

When they finally make it to the bottom, Danny's pale and shaking, sweat trickling down his face and dampening the shirt under Steve's hands. It makes Steve want to go back upstairs and shot Grady again. Instead he takes a little more of Danny's weight and leads him out of the building and over to the waiting paramedics.

He sticks close to Danny the whole time the medics are checking his partner out, getting in the way more than once, until Danny finally reaches out and wraps his hand around Steve's forearm, yanking Steve down to sit next to him on the steps of the ambulance. Their knees bump and Steve concentrates on that small point of contact and carefully doesn't think of anything else.

The medics want to take Danny to hospital, but he's arguing against it.

"Danny, just let them check you out, OK." Steve tries very hard to keep his voice neutral, but something must get through, because Danny stops arguing with the medic and turns to look at Steve. There are a few seconds where he just looks and Steve tries to keep his expression as blank as possible. Danny's eyes narrow a little, but then he sighs and nods.

Steve insists on riding in the ambulance and the medic looks from him to Danny and back again and agrees without argument.

When they get to the hospital, he calls Chin while Danny's seeing the doc. The first thing Chin does is to ask about Danny. Steve confirms that he doesn't seem to have any serious injuries. There's a pause at the other end of the line and Steve knows what Chin's thinking; not all injuries are physical. But Danny's strong and Steve knows he'll get through this; he has his whole team to help him do just that.

Chin confirms that they're working the scene; even thought Grady's dead, they still need to gather the evidence so that they and Jersey can close their files. Chin says that they'll hold off telling Jersey PD, in case Danny wants to be the one to pass the information on himself. Chin ends the call by telling Steve to take himself and Danny home and not to show their faces in the office for at least twenty four hours, ideally longer. Steve agrees readily. He's selfish enough to want Danny to himself for a while, until he can convince himself that his partner is safe and well.

He's waiting for the doctor when he comes out. He has to flash his badge to get the information he wants, but eventually, grudgingly, the doctor confirms that Danny's got a mild concussion, which hasn't been helped by the fact that Grady likely used chloroform to subdue him after the crash, a badly sprained ankle and the chest wounds. The doctor confirms, under Steve's questioning, that there's likely to be some scaring, but that it's probably going to be faint and once they've healed, if Danny wants, the scars can almost certainly be removed with laser treatment. Steve files that away. He knows it's not his call to make, but he doesn't like the thought of Danny carrying around a physical reminder of what that psycho tried to do to him.

The doctor tells him that Danny shouldn't be left alone for at least twenty four hours, to make sure that he doesn't have a more serious head injury and Steve tells him that Danny will be staying with him. He's given a prescription and an instruction sheet on how to deal with head injuries that he throws in the trash the second the doc's back is turned. He picks up the prescription and then goes to see Danny.

His partner is sitting on the bed in the room, still wearing the bloody shirt, although now it's buttoned halfway up, revealing the bandage covering left side of his chest, and Danny's only wearing one shoe; the other is on the bed, next to a crutch. Steve mentally winces, because he remembers how bad tempered Danny was at times when he was recovering from his knee surgery. Now though, Danny just looks tired and worn.

"Hey man," Steve says. He waits until Danny looks up, "Doctor says you can get out of here, but you've got to stay with someone."

"And that someone would be you, I expect?" Danny replies.

"Yep."

"Great. Think you can avoid threatening me with your gun this time?" Danny tilts his head slightly and looks at Steve with a faint grin. It does ridiculous things to Steve's mental state to have his partner mocking him like this is just another day.

"Do you want to get out of here or not? Because I gotta tell you, you're making a good case for me to leave your ass here..."

"Shut up and take this." Danny shoves his shoe at Steve and grabs the crutch.

Steve can't help wanting to help while Danny gets himself off the bed and arranges himself and the crutch to his satisfaction, but he resists, although he knows he's hovering again. He carries on hovering all the way out of the hospital and when he finally can't help himself and goes to help Danny into his truck, he gets his hand slapped away for his troubles.

"Hands off. If you want to grope me, you're going to have to buy me dinner at a decent restaurant first."

"You're really high maintenance, you know that?" Steve says, putting Danny's shoe on his lap.

"Hey, you wanted to take me home. Suck it up, babe."

Steve risks wrapping his hand around Danny's bicep. Underneath the no longer crisp cotton, Danny's warm, solid and real. "I'm really glad you're OK man. You had us worried for a while there."

Danny looks at him and there's not a trace of mockery in his expression. He curls his hand around Steve's forearm. "Yeah. Me too." Steve's pretty sure that they're talking about more than Danny making it back in one piece. But Danny's had a shitty day and they're in a hospital parking lot, so Steve stows those thoughts and settles for squeezing Danny's arm. Danny lets him pull away, but he doesn't stop watching Steve.

They talk on the way back to Steve's house, but Danny's clearly struggling to stay awake, which really isn't that surprising, given the things he's been through and the painkillers Steve knows they gave him at the hospital. He's slurring just a little by the time they pull in to Steve's place. He rouses himself enough to get out of the truck and into the house on his own. He does let Steve help him up the stairs and into the guest room though.

"Home sweet home." He mutters under his breath. Steve makes sure that Danny can see him roll his eyes, but he can't deny that the idea that Danny might think of this place as a home has its appeal, even if he thinks that they might end up killing each other if they had to share close quarters for too long.

He leaves Danny to change and sort himself out and he goes to his own bedroom. The sounds of Danny moving about reassure him. He can feel the crash coming and knows that it's going to be bad, but he knows the drill, has been through this before. He goes through his nighttime routine mechanically; brushes his teeth, changes into pj pants and t-shirt. Then he sits up against the head of the bed, arms wrapped around his knees and waits for the shakes and the nausea to start. It doesn't take long, as he suspected.

The door opening a few minutes later catches him by surprise and he doesn't have anywhere near enough time to hide the fact that he's in the middle of a meltdown.

"Did you know that you're out of... Steve? Hey, hey."

Steve watches his partner limp across the bedroom until he can sit on the edge of the bed by Steve's hip. Steve has no idea what his expression is like, but Danny looks worried and really, that's just wrong. Danny's the one who's been through hell today, he shouldn't be worrying about Steve.

"What's with the face? Huh? Steve? Come on, you're starting to worry me. More than usual, I mean. Talk to me, babe."

Steve shakes his head, "I'm fine." Danny gives him a look that says that Steve's talking bullshit. "OK, I'm not. But I will be. It's just..." he waves a hand, not really sure how to articulate what this is.

Danny looks at him critically, but for once he doesn't push for answers. Instead, he shoves Steve a little, until Steve realises what Danny wants and moves over to make room for his partner, who then arranges himself against the headboard next to Steve, his shoulder pressing against Steve's. "This going to last long?"

The feel of Danny next to him, warm and strong and alive, oh god, alive is already helping and Steve shakes his head again. He doesn't think he's capable of expressing what he's feeling right now. He's just so very, very grateful that circumstances have brought Danny to Hawaii and Steve, even if he has no idea what he's done to earn a friendship like this.

Eventually, the shakes begin to ease up and he stops feeling as though he's going to puke. Danny's already asleep beside him, head resting on Steve's shoulder. Steve's pretty sure he ought to wake Danny up and get him back to the guest room, but his partner looks too tired to move and besides, Steve likes having Danny this close. So he pushes and pokes Danny gently until he takes the hint and slides down the bed and lets Steve get him under the covers. Danny grumbles under his breath the whole time, but he doesn't make any kind of move to leave. Steve turns the light out and slips into the other side of the bed. He finally falls asleep, listening to the sound of Danny's breathing.

It's still dark outside when he startles awake from a nightmare. He can't hear anything but the sound of his own heartbeat and the panic starts to creep back in. He jumps a little when a hand touches his arm. He reaches out blindly and ends up with his hand curled around Danny's shoulder. He keeps his eyes shut and concentrates on breathing through the lingering fear. Danny doesn't say anything, just holds on to Steve and lets Steve hold on to him, as if there's nothing strange about the fact that they're sharing a bed and hanging onto each other.

When Steve can hear the sound of the ocean outside the window, and the nightmare has finally loosened its grip on him, he opens his eyes. He left the curtains undrawn last night and there's enough moonlight coming through the window to let him see that Danny's watching him, concerned, but calm. For all that Danny is loud, opinionated, bossy and as stubborn as hell, he's the most grounded person that Steve knows. His determination to do the right thing, to be the best cop and father than he can be remind Steve of all the reasons why he's doing this job when things go wrong, when they find yet another body, when they fail to save everyone every time. He helps keep Steve sane, just by being there. Steve didn't think Danny knew, but the way his partner is looking at him now makes Steve think that maybe Danny's known all along. Maybe he knew before Steve did.

"You doing OK?" Danny asks, but he doesn't move away and he doesn't look uncomfortable, even though there's barely a couple of inches between them and they've still got their hands on each other.

"I'll live," he replies.

"Uh-huh. Not particularly informative, but it's been a long day so I'll let it go this time."

"I'm sorry," Steve says and he's not entirely sure which part of the last forty eight hours he's actually apologising for, just that he needs Danny to understand.

"Oh, no. None of this was in any way your fault. None of it. For once." Danny squeezes Steve's arm, but he still doesn't let go. "The last two days have been pretty shitty, but come on, we got the bastard off the streets and no-one else is going to die. As far as I'm concerned that counts as a huge fucking win for the good guys."

"I'm sorry that you ended up being the one to shoot him."

"Seriously? Sorry twice in the space of five minutes? Who are you and what have you done with the Steve McGarrett I know?"

"Danny..." Steve doesn't really know how to explain what he means.

"Yeah, I know. Look, I'm not sorry. He was never going to stop. He made the choice, babe."

"No, I..."

"You wanted to be the one to take him out?" Steve nods and Danny shakes him a little. "Stop that. No, don't give me that look. It is not your job to take all that on. I'm glad it was me, OK, I don't want you to have that guy's blood on your hands. I don't want you killing for me."

"I would though, for you, or Chin or Kono. You know that, right?" He needs Danny to understand, needs to know that Danny knows how much he and the team mean to Steve.

"Of course we know that. What I'm telling you is that it goes both ways. Jesus, you are so screwed in the head. I shouldn't have to tell you this."

Danny waves his free hand between them and Steve reaches out and catches hold of it. He only means to hold on for a second, to make some joke about Danny using his hands to talk, even in bed, but he can't let go and the words get stuck. Danny opens his mouth to say something, then stops and gives Steve that thoughtful look again; the look that Steve has come to learn means Danny's deciding on his next move, or wondering what Steve's going to do next.

"You are such an idiot McGarrett, you know that?"

Danny leans in and Steve doesn't pretend that he doesn't know that this is where they've been heading, practically since the day they met. Steve's doesn't let go of Danny's hand, but he does close his eyes. The kiss doesn't quite work as well as Steve would have hoped; they bump noses and their teeth clink and it's possibly the most awkward first kiss Steve has had since he left high school.

Danny pulls back an inch, frowns and then says "Oh for... Come here." He lets go of Steve's hand and instead wraps his fingers around Steve's neck, thumb tucked under his jaw. He uses the grip to twist Steve's head a little before he moves in again and suddenly things are a whole lot better. Steve thinks it pretty much fits the pattern of their relationship, awkward and uncomfortable at first, but sliding rapidly into something familiar and intense.

He'd promised himself, at the start, when they first met, that he wouldn't do this, no matter how strong the attraction was, even when he figured out that it wasn't one sided at all. There are plenty of reasons why they shouldn't; he's still technically in the Navy, Danny's got an ex-wife and a daughter, and they're partners. Between them, they've probably got enough baggage to sink the Titanic, but he suspects, no, he _knows_ that if they can make it work, it's going to be terrifyingly good. They're going to make it work, somehow, they've got to, because if today has taught Steve anything, it's that he doesn't want a life without Danny in it, and he doesn't care how stupid that sounds because he is never, ever going to say those words outside of his own head.

He uses his free hand to curl around Danny's hip and pull him even closer. Danny goes easily and willingly, but just as he's pressing against Steve, he winces. Steve curses, remembering the wound on Danny's chest. He pulls back, intending to tell Danny that this can wait until he's healed. As usual, he doesn't get a chance to say anything.

"Hey, where are you going? You know I'm not made of glass and while I appreciate the concern, I don't need to be coddled."

"Coddled?"

"Steven, shut the hell up and get back here, or I swear to God..."

Steve leans back and kisses Danny, smearing Danny's words and his own smile between their lips. He's more careful this time, as they settle against each other, both of them bruised and battered, and this time there aren't any winces of pain to distract them.

He runs his hand over Danny, from his shoulder, down his back, over the swell of his ass. He'd love to run his hand over Danny's chest, wants to learn how all of his partner feels under his fingertips, but that's off limits for now. Danny puts his hand on the small of Steve's back, under his t-shirt. The heat between them makes Steve sweat and he thinks about getting them out of their clothes, but what they're doing now is so good and he knows they're limited in what they can do anyway, with Danny's chest and sprained ankle and all the other minor injuries between them. He finds he doesn't care all that much, because it means they can take their time getting to know each other in bed, and he's going to make sure that they get plenty of opportunities to do anything and everything they want with each other once Danny's healed up.

Danny moves his hand, fingertips trailing under the waistband of Steve's pyjama pants, leaving a trail of goose bumps as they go, but it's still somehow a surprise when he worms that hand down the front of Steve's pants and strong fingers wrap themselves around Steve's dick. He jumps for the second time tonight and Danny laughs at him, lips just barely touching Steve's so that he feels as well as hears it.

He retaliates by doing the same thing to Danny, and even if he doesn't have the element of surprise, he still manages to make Danny gasp and curse at him and he should have realised that sex with Danny wouldn't go how he expected. He'd thought it would be all fire and fury; desperate, aggressive passion, rather than laughter and affection and this gentle, sensual connection. In most other situations he thinks it probably would have been the former, but this time, it's about reassurance, about promises and the future.

Then Danny, the contrary bastard, has to go and turn it into a battle. He hunts out all of Steve's most sensitive spots, even as he's shivering under Steve's touch. He doesn't give Steve a second to catch his breath, to pay as much attention to Danny's reactions as he wants to. Steve tries to keep up, tries to take Danny apart as effectively as Danny is doing to him. But in the end, he breaks first, while Danny's dragging teeth down Steve's throat and he's stroking Steve's cock with a grip that's just this side of vicious. Steve chokes on a breath and comes, trying to remember to avoid hurting his partner.

He doesn't care about losing this skirmish though, because once he's got his breath back, he can take his time and watch what his touch does to Danny. He savours every reaction, swallows every gasp and moan, until Danny digs his fingers into Steve's hip and yanks his mouth away from Steve's, lips still spit slick from Steve's kisses.

"Stop fucking teasing, you bastard. Some of us got kidnapped today and I just want to come and then pass out like a normal person," Danny says. He's probably trying to sound angry, but he just sounds wrecked and aroused.

Steve takes mercy on him though, and tightens his grip and finds the rhythm that has Danny's hips shifting towards him, then he keeps that pace until Danny shudders and comes, face pressed against Steve's neck.

"Oh my God. I can't believe we just came in our pants like teenagers. Fuck. You are such a bad influence."

He doesn't even bother answering Danny, just wipes his hand on Danny's pants, which earns him a slap to the ass and Danny telling him he's an uncivilised animal. He ignores Danny's complaints and just wrestles his partner out of his pants and t-shirt and then strips his own off.

Once they're naked, they settle down under the covers again. They aren't touching, but Steve is very aware of Danny lying next to him. Getting involved is definitely crazy, but Steve can't regret it, not when they fit together as well in bed as they do out of it.

When he wakes up next, Danny's back is pressed up against Steve's side. Steve stretches and uses it as an excuse to curl around his partner and touch him, long, slow strokes down the uninjured side of his chest.

"If you think I'm going to play spoons with you every morning, you can just think again," Danny says, sleepily.

"How about if I bring you coffee and breakfast?" Steve asks, trying to get used to the idea that he can do this, that despite the shit of the last few days, he's actually got something good for himself, for once.

"I could be persuaded to reconsider. Bring me food and caffeine and I'll let you know."

Steve laughs and Danny squirms until he's facing Steve. He pokes Steve in the chest. "Why are you still here?"

Steve kisses him, just a touch of lips, but Danny presses into it all the same. Then Steve drags himself out of bed, pulls on a clean pair of shorts and goes to put some coffee on. He's stiff and his head still aches a little, but he's had worse. It's mostly just pulled muscles and bruises.

While he's waiting for the coffee to brew, he cobbles together whatever he can find in the kitchen for breakfast. They eat breakfast in bed, and Danny insists on showering afterwards, which means that Steve ends up having to redress Danny's chest. He can feel the anger at Grady for doing this, for marking Danny in this way rising again, until Danny grabs his hand and tells him to stop. He can't set aside the anger entirely, but he does enough to stop Danny looking at him like he doesn't know whether to hug Steve or punch him.

Danny's ankle isn't as swollen as it was yesterday, but he's got some pretty impressive bruises coming out in various places. He submits to Steve re-wrapping the strapping on his ankle grudgingly. Steve has to lend him some clothes, and Danny bitches loudly about the fact that he has to roll the bottom of the jeans up by a good few inches. The t-shirt fits him well enough though, tight in all the right places, as far as Steve is concerned. Now that he can admire and touch he also allows himself to really enjoy the possessive thrill of having Danny wear his clothes.

Danny refuses to stay at Steve's place, when Steve decides he should go into work to make sure that everything's OK and the paperwork on Grady's all done. Danny outright laughs at the last part.

In the end, Steve doesn't fight all that hard, mostly because he's pretty sure that Chin and Kono will be there and they'll be glad to see that Danny's OK. He wonders if they're going to realise that something has changed between he and Danny, but when he half mentions it to Danny, Danny just calls him an idiot. Steve isn't about to prove that he is one by asking what Danny means, so he lets the conversation drop.

On the way to work, they bicker like they normally do and Danny mocks Steve's choice of radio station. He talks about how excited he is that Grace is going to be back in a week and when Steve suggests taking her to the zoo, Danny agrees and includes Steve in those plans without batting an eyelash. Steve doesn't even realise until halfway through the next conversation and he can't help the goofy grin he gets when he does, which earns him five minutes of questioning and then a further ten minutes of mocking from Danny.

Danny moves stiffly when they get out of the car and make their way to the office, but he refuses every offer of help that Steve makes. The way Chin and Kono smile when they see Danny soothes Danny's slightly ruffled feathers a little. Chin teases Danny about the crutch and Kono pretends to poke at a couple of the more spectacular bruises that she insists Danny show her. She pouts in mock frustration when Danny slaps her hands away and threatens her with the crutch. Chin brings them all coffee and pulls out a box of goodies that he claims to have been hiding from Kono. Danny nearly climbs over the table to get at the box and ends up with sugar and crumbs all down his shirt. Steve manages to stop himself from brushing them off, but Chin still gives him an intent look when he catches Steve watching Danny. Steve has the feeling that there's at least one potentially awkward conversation in his near future and makes a note to avoid being alone with either of the cousins for the next few weeks, although he knows it's only delaying the inevitable.

"So, did your search of the office block shed any light on why our crazy psycho killer decided to take a murder vacation in Hawaii?" Danny asks, licking chocolate from his fingers and Steve decides that he really needs to stop watching Danny now. Of course, the first thing he sees when he looks away is Kono's smirk.

"Nothing there. We're still trying to trace his movements from when he got out of jail to when the first body showed up here, but he was smart enough to cover his tracks and it's taking longer than we expected. To be honest, I doubt we're ever going to know for sure," Chin says.

"Huh. I guess it doesn't matter much now anyway," Danny replies, and he doesn't convince Steve, or the others, judging by their expressions, that he doesn't actually care.

There's a slightly loaded silence that stretches for several seconds, before Danny seems to mentally shake himself out of whatever he was thinking about and tells Kono to hand over the pastries.

Once they've eaten enough pastries to make themselves feel slightly sick, they sit around for a while, just chatting. It's like a normal day without an an active case, except that even for them, normal doesn't involve one of their own nearly becoming a serial killer's victim. Danny keeps touching Steve, fingers wrapped around his arm, bumping legs, a hand on Steve's knee as he leans across to snatch another pastry or get his coffee refilled and Steve knows he's looking at Danny far too often and with far too much affection, but then again he's pretty sure that neither of these things are exactly new. He knows that out in the real world, they're going to have to be more careful, but here, with their team around them, he doesn't care, he's got something that he's wanted for a long time and he doesn't think that anything can spoil the happiness he's feeling.

"Oh, by the way, is my car here?" Danny asks, out of the blue.

Steve is genuinely surprised by the speed at which Chin and Kono suddenly seem to find urgent things that they need to be doing somewhere else. He glares at their retreating backs and reminds himself that annual appraisals are only a couple of months away.

So much for an air of peace and happiness, he thinks.

"Steven? Is there something that you need to tell me?" Danny's squinting at him in a way that promises that if the answer isn't to Danny's liking, someone is going to hear about it, in great detail and at significant volume.

"Uh, yeah. About the car..."


End file.
